Kotaku
When SNK showed off The King of Fighters XII at arcade show AOU in Japan and industry event GDC in San Francisco, the unanimous reply was: Nice cell shading. That, or it's "just" hi-res 2D. Thing is, that's totally incorrect. And for SNK, who's been working on the game for the past three years, frustrating! Today, I checked out the game's latest build at SNK's Osaka office and saw a few stages that haven't been revealed. Screens weren't available, but there was a French stage, complete with fat, rich women and an Egyptian one that had loyal subjects worshiping before the Pharaoh. Colorful stuff and classic SNK. The company set out to make the ultimate 2D fighter — unparalleled by anything else out there, attempting not only to raise the bar, but snap it in half. KOFXII producer Masaaki Kukino tells Kotaku:
The game is one hundred percent hand drawn. There is zero cell shading in The King of Fighters XII.
Hardcore. That means that an actual human hands lovingly drew and colored in everything in the game. Every single frame, every character and every background. Everything — down to the game's in-game title. SNK gave us the full rundown, so here's how it worked: The original character drawings were modeled into 3D. Those 3D models were then rendered back into 2D. That way the 2D characters could have a greater depth of motion. Since the 2D models were devoid of color and details, artists went through each character, background, image and painstakingly added colors and drew in details pixel-by-pixel on a tablet PC. In one day, one artist would be able to draw one frame and a half for whatever image he or she was working on.
"We knew it was going to be hard going in," says Kukino. "But we wanted to make the ultimate 2D fighting game." Up close, that meticulous attention to detail becomes apparent, and you're always noticing a flourish here or a nice touch there. Every inch of the screen has something interesting going on. "We wanted the look of the game to have more in common with manga or anime," Kukino adds. With KoFXII, it looks like SNK hasn't only created another stylized 2D fighter, but this time, a genuine work of art.
Comments
No screenies?
um... pics or it didnt happen? lol
And then thousands pirated it.
Awesome.
@Dogysamich:
um... better comments or you didn't happen? lol
They have just earned all of my respect.
I saw the video in a crappy camera format and I can't understand how people could have seen that as cell shaiding. really it even shows you in big text that it's 2D.
pics or ban hamma lol
here is a higher quality video from GT
[www.gametrailers.com]
this is exactly what i wanted from capcom. i'm gonna have to make a song for capcom: maybe something like, "i'm f!@#$ing SNK".
this is very rare for me, but this will be a day one purchase. maybe i can even make some gamestop employee's day by saying i'd like to pre-order.
impressive. That earned my respect as well
In this day and age, that's amazing.
Glad to know the KOF series is keeping the "tradition" alive! :D
Glee! KOF design is always great.
Yeah, no screens?
I'll buy this game just because of the fact it is hand drawn... need to support 2D games these days, they're a dying breed.
@Brian Ashcraft: WTF, seriously.
Hasn't this been know for a while now?
Sex
Wow. That certainly slaps some style into the process, now doesn't it?
Fuck ing sweet.
Ah, thanks for the info Brian! The game looks amazing and I can't wait for it to be released. Of course, when I say that I mean console port. Then I'll be upset by the typical console port screw-up that SNK does. However, the art should still look great. Now if only America (Sans New York and Cali) had arcades.
@Nickname:
+ Watch video
Looks like quality. Although I never go into KoF really. I am so sick of Pixar crap, it's nice to see something hand drawn!
Bless you, SNK. Bless you.
@Nickname:
did you read the definition? The term refers to on-line gaming, not graphic quality
Bananas in pajamas
@Acunia: Thanks for that video link. That is some truly astounding art right there. It really does look like a playable anime as they stated was their goal. Hope it plays well too!
This is simply amazing. I don't think that there has been a truly hand drawn game in years. At least not at this scale. Personally I was always more of a Samurai Showdown guy but KOF XII has my attention now.
@Witzbold: LOL Amesome video.
The leash Capcom had around my neck for SF4 has broken and I'm running, barking happily, towards SNK.
(not that I don't still look a bit forward to SF4, but it's not what anyone expected~)
i could get into this game. has snkplaymore redeemed itself since their developed svc chaos? havent touched and snk game since, any worthwhile?
Dear lord that demonic. I am even more excited about the new installment now.
Wow this looks really good. Hmm...KOF and SFIV coming out soon.
I think I might just shed tears of joy this gaming year.
If it wasn't 2d, why didn't we get any complaints about the severe frame dropping issues? Its beautiful work, but the lack of perfect interpolation makes it pretty obvious that its 2d. Lovely, lovely 2d.
@Sparx: There is also another one for "pictures or it didnt happen" that is popular on online forums. Pics or it didnt happen Urban Dictionary link
I can't wait to see how they redesigned all of the characters. Considering many of which haven't been updated in over 10 years. With all the AAA releases coming out in 08 this one has me the most excited.
@Witzbold: Is today Ban Monday? 'Cause that was pretty harsh, considering. If it is Ban Monday, and I just missed the announcement, carry on, carry on.
SNK-Playmore is like that really hot EX-Girlfriend/Boyfriend who is also a recovering addict, so every time you see them and they look and sound really good you still have in the back of your mind all the times they've let you down or broken your heart.
I'd love to see the video and judge whether this looks like a winner or a heartbreaker, but it doesn't want to play for me. Odd, since GT stuff usually embeds and plays just fine on Kotaku...
It's amazing how they keep on doing such things, they were already bankrupted once for being stubborn and sticking with 2d games, and they just won't give up. I love these people! Now go and revive Last Blade series.
Oh. God. Definitely want to play this game!
@PogiJones: Heh, are there Mondays which are not also Ban Mondays? If so thats news to me ;)
Wait, hand-drawn = win?
As much as I enjoy hand-drawn work - it's more about efficiency and turning out a decent piece of work, rather than how you approach the piece.
300 and Sin City were awesome movies. If they were filmed COMPLETELY without greenscreen, then the budget would have been huge - and they'd make a lot less money.
lol I would have never guessed it wasn't computer animated.... ..
..
.
@Cpryd001: I think a better comparison is like... fully synthesized flutes, guitars, bass, drums, etc. VS. real instruments.
Real instruments are better and more impressive.
@Cpryd001:
Yes. Hand-drawn = win if only because sometimes, the traditional touch means so much more than the gross profit.
So is this link the video? It looks pretty cool, but it was the gameplay, not the graphics, that have turned me off the last 4 KOF games. I'll still give it a shot whenever I get the chance, as I'd love to be wrong, but until then I remain impressed by the level of graphical effort but skeptical about the game itself ;)
@Witzbold: Great video.
This one's good too!
+ Watch video
I might buy this game just to buff up my Gaming Cred.
@Cpryd001: How you approach a piece effects how a "decent piece of work" ends up, and people like decent pieces that are 2D. No one is praising shoddy work ethics.
see what happens when you copy the guilty gear style? you get max pwnage in the graphics dept.
Respect to the fine guys at SNK! Love hand-drawn 2D Fighters and graphics.
@DaiMacculate:
Afaik every monday is ban monday. I'd hardly call it harsh at any rate, check his comment history and you'll see he's a troll who had it coming for a while. Also amusingly he follows his own comments.
As for KoF never really played much of it myself but damn does this new one look pretty. Still get the weird feeling that it's 3D (most likely to the drawing technique they used, using 3D models to establish animation frames and then drawing in the detail) but it looks incredible for 2D. Far prettier than SF4, just got to see how each of them play really.
@Odin: Heh yeah I took a quick peek at his history as well, I have no complaints as to the current resolution ;)
This is what I wanted SF4 to be. This is what I wanted.
Hey Capcom, I'm going to go hang out over at SNK's house for a bit. It's okay... we're just friends. No really... you have nothing to worry about. I'll... uh... see ya later.
*closes door and drives away*
All this quality means NOTHING if the gameplay doesn't also deliver. With KOF games, you get a 50/50 shot of quality at best. Out of 11 KOF games, I'd say 4 got considered good (95,98,2k2, and XI) Only 98 is considered great by anyone, and even there- it took a revision.
Note: I don't agree with that, as I don't consider 2k2 good, but Latin America disagrees with me.
I want to see how the game plays before judging.
Watch this game have a retarded infinite. (Even XI has a retarded infinite- Vanessa Hellion juggle in the corner)
That said, I really am impressed by the effort/artstyle- a lot better then I usually expect from SNK.
This is shaping up to be a great year for fighters with a lot of flagship titles being put out- odds are at least one will become a standard game, and those don't come around too often. Hopefully they all do and we can retire some of the older games.
@PogiJones: When the Prinny Express is in the air EVERY day is "Ban Monday".
Wow, you can really tell the difference. It looks amazing. I was actually having a conversation the other day about how I wish Capcom had gone the "super nice hand drawn sprites" path for SF4. It looks like SNK has answered my call!
.... although, I never was that big of a fan of the SNK fighting engines. Hopefully it'll be better than the travesty that was SVC: Chaos, but KOF always has been. (not that that's hard to do)
@Witzbold: Holy crap ... there IS a ban hammer theme song! I was always wondering ...
Anyway, while my first love is Street Fighter -especially the Alpha series, although I started with the very first SF (yeah, the crappy one) in the arcades - I have an ongoing, torrid love affair with SNK fighters. I never know them as well as my first love, but I have to have them. I can't wait for this game! I hope Blue Mary is in it ...
Looks incredible. But the animations are lacking IMO. This is where SF4 shines. Looks a lot more fluid.